Following a historic Supreme Court victory, Colorado has agreed to pay a settlement of more than $1.5 million for violating the First Amendment rights of a Christian graphic designer.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled that Colorado could not force Lorie Smith and her design studio, 303 Creative, to create art that would violate her religious beliefs. The Christian designer strongly believes in the Biblical doctrine that marriage is between a man and a woman, and thus refused to create art contradicting that belief. The overbearing anti-discrimination laws enacted by the state of Colorado would have forced Smith to create same-sex wedding websites, as she wanted to design wedding websites as her career.
Jonathan Turley calls 303 Creative LLC V. Elenis one of the most important free speech cases in the history of the court.
A huge victory for free speech! pic.twitter.com/olfeREZqjL
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) June 30, 2023
Smith and her lawyers from Alliance Defending Freedom won the case and secured a ruling from the Supreme Court that Colorado’s anti-discrimination law had violated her First Amendment rights, which included a $1.5 million settlement for the graphic designer. Smith celebrated the victory in a statement released on Tuesday.
“After enduring Colorado’s censorship for nearly seven years, I’m incredibly grateful for the work of my attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom to bring my case to victory,” the statement read. “As the Supreme Court said, I’m free to create art consistent with my beliefs without fear of Colorado punishing me anymore. This is a win not just for me but for all Americans—for those who share my beliefs and for those who hold different views.”
Kristen Waggoner, the CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom, explained the case in a press release — highlighting the fact that the “government can’t force Americans to say things they don’t believe, and Colorado officials have paid and will continue to pay a high price when they violate this foundational freedom.”
‼️ BREAKING ‼️ Colorado has agreed to pay more than $1.5 million in attorneys’ fees for violating the First Amendment rights of graphic artist Lorie Smith, following her landmark Supreme Court victory in 303 Creative v. Elenis.
CO officials threatened and censored Lorie’s speech… pic.twitter.com/IicctcVLDb
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) November 19, 2024
“For the past 12 years, Colorado has targeted people of faith and forced them to express messages that violate their conscience and that advance the government’s preferred ideology,” she added. “First Amendment protections are non-negotiable. Billions of people around the world believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman and that men and women are biologically distinct.”
“No government has the right to silence individuals for expressing these ideas or to punish those who decline to express different views,” Waggoner’s press release continued. “Political and cultural winds shift, but the freedom to speak without fear of censorship is a God-given constitutionally guaranteed right, essential for a flourishing society and self-governing people.”
This historic Supreme Court ruling and settlement payment followed a similar case that also came out of Colorado: the infamous Masterpiece Cakeshop case, where cake designer Jack Phillips was repeatedly sued by radical leftist activists trying to force him to create cakes for gay weddings, transgender transitions, and even a cake depicting “Satan smoking Marijuana.” Phillips was repeatedly targeted by these activists even after he won each case, receiving a ruling from the Supreme Court in favor of his First Amendment rights to his religious beliefs.
Jack Phillips has been in court for a decade. He lost over 40% of his business. Every time he wins a case, activists immediately drag him back into court. They can do this forever.
If you have to spend your life in court fighting for your rights, you don’t actually have rights https://t.co/jKuwRdlsaT pic.twitter.com/4ndvk6t3Li
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) May 20, 2024
